Olympus insists brand will remain
An Olympus executive said yesterday at the firm’s annual meeting that despite ongoing talks for a capital tie-up with several firms, it would maintain an independent brand. “We understand we need to consider an increase in capital as one of our key management issues. The main premise is to fully preserve our Olympus brand,” Yasuo Takeuchi, Olympus senior executive managing officer said. Olympus is in final talks with a firm, believed to be Sony, to get a roughly 50bn yen (£399.7m) capital injection in return for a stake, as the Japanese camera and medical equipment maker looks to rebuild from a huge accounting scandal. After the deal, Sony is expected to become Olympus’ top shareholder with a more than 10 per cent stake.